CW's New Approach to Sunday Nights

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- CW farmed out its Sunday night to an independent producer this past summer in order to focus on what it does best: putting together hip, buzzy programs that appeal to young women such as "90210," "One Tree Hill" and "Gossip Girl." Now that CW is taking the night back, it sees Sunday night as a place to broaden its appeal.
Various feature films from the MGM studio, including 1987's 'Throw Momma from the Train,' will run between 8 and 10 p.m.
Starting Nov. 30, Sundays will feature first-season episodes of the CW's series "Everybody Hates Chris," from 5 to 5:30 p.m., and "The Game" from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Those will be followed by back-to back second-season episodes of "The Drew Carey Show" between 6 and 7 p.m. First-season episodes of the cult classic "Jericho" will run between 7 and 8 p.m. Various feature films from the MGM studio will run between 8 and 10 p.m.

Familiar flicks
The movies might attract a broader audience. On Nov. 30, CW will show "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course." Other films will include "The Cutting Edge," "Revenge of the Pink Panther," "Trail of the Pink Panther," "Spaceballs," "Carrie," "Throw Momma From the Train," "Mr. Mom," "Anti-Trust," "Three Amigos!" and "Teen Wolf."

Faced with low ratings last year, the CW, which is co-owned by Time Warner and CBS Corp., agreed to let Media Rights Capital have its Sunday-night air in what its executives said was an attempt to focus on producing shows aimed at young women during the rest of the week. Freed of the burden of having to fill another few hours each Sunday, the CW could focus more intently on programming during the week. But those programs "have been below expectations" and "are simply not working," CW Chief Operating Officer John D. Maatta wrote in a recent letter to CW affiliates.

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Brian Steinberg

Brian covers the big broadcast television networks and also looks at changes in the world of TV advertising. He particularly enjoys stories that have a pop-culture element to them, but that doesn't preclude him from being open to all topics. Use email or phone to contact.